The New Normal

On last night’s The New Normal, the story revolved around a pretend wedding for elementary-schoolers Shania and Wilbur, who, after three and half weeks of courtship, felt it was time to put a ring on it. Bryan used this opportunity to live out his dreams of a wedding with David, making it a fabulous event that included lamb sliders and a dress made of leaves. Of course, no wedding is complete without a tearjerking speech. Instead, Rocky, played by NeNe Leakes, read the words of Shania’s favorite poet, Nicki Minaj.

“You always told me forget the haters, just get my money, just get my weight up,” quoted NeNe, from Nicki’s 2010 song “Right Thru Me.” You can watch the whole moving recitation in the video above. When the show aired, the Real Housewife tweeted “I live 4 Nikki chile.” Now we can only hope for a cameo of NeNe in the next Nicki Minaj video.

NeNe’s transition from reality star to actress has been quite the seamless one, and on The New Normal, we see her shine bright like the hilarious — and highly quotable — star she was born to be. In case you aren’t onboard with us yet, here are four reasons to watch NeNe as Rocky on The New Normal: Read more…

The air is crisper and cooler; it’s a little darker when I leave the office, and the public pools are closed. I’m always of mixed emotions when we think about the end of summer, until I remember that my DVR will soon be filled with new imaginary friends and enemies. Of course, I’m also happy to see the old ones return — and you should totally have your TV locked on VH1 at all times — but I thought I’d take a second to tell you about the top 10 new shows I’ve had a chance to check out and am already either totally hooked on, or willing to ask out on a second date. Beginning with my favorite…

Revolution
No one does TV pilots like J.J. Abrams. And for this one, the Lost/Alias/Felicity/Fringe creator teamed up with Iron Man director Jon Favreau and Supernatural creator Eric Kripke, so it’s no wonder it looks and feels like a movie more than an hour-long drama. I am already totally hooked on the quest of a girl named Charlie whose father maybe probably knew why all the power in the world went out 15 years ago, especially because her quest involves finding her uncle Miles, who happens to be played by Billy Burke. Also, there’s some kickass, Lost-ian world-building for good measure. Premieres Monday, September 17, at 10 p.m. on NBC.

What the Critics Say: “Favreau brings a lot of strong energy to Revolution, giving appropriate weight to moments like that opening sequence and delivering action that is more notable and big than is normal for network TV – a sword fight Miles has with multiple foes is incredibly fun and cool, and instantly helps Burke (bringing the right world-weary vibe to the proceedings) establish that yes, the dad from Twilight can play a kickass hero.” — IGN

The Mindy ProjectMindy Kaling won fans and fame playing cute in front of the camera and smart behind the camera on The Office. Now we get to see her meld those qualities more smoothly (again in front of and behind the camera) in a way that will have many ladies nodding their heads as much as we’re rolling on the floor laughing. Her character, OBGYN resident Mindy Lahiri, aspires to live in a romantic comedy — and succeeds in at least getting to part in those movies where she dates the wrong guys, gets in hilariously slapstick disasters and shows how much pluck and ingenuity she has when it really counts. Not life-changing stuff here, but totally endearing entertainment. Premieres Tuesday, September 25, at 9:30 p.m. on Fox.

What the Critics Say: “It warms me to the the cockles of my heart to see a female protagonist on television who is not white or movie star skinny looking hot, banging babes, making mistakes, and being hilarious, and I can’t wait to see the rest of what Mindy has in store for us.” — Crushable